*Volume 81 *No. 1 *Published by Christian Triumph Co. *Permit # 695 *Jan-March 2017 1 st Quarter FM
Contents: Greetings from Editor....……....…......2 JOEL………..…………………..3-4 A New Year by Pastor Ron.........4-5 Celebrate Nature …....…………….5 Remembering Byrum Lee....6 A SONGPastor OF LOVE Christian Triumph Workers…..…...7 Psalm 92
GREETINGS FROM BRAZIL Several years ago, ChristianTriumph funded the printing of many thousands of Mr. Good Guy tracts for evangelism in the North of Brazil. Here’s a recent update from our contact for that project, Pastor Daniel Pureza, the Director of the Instituto Teologico Boa Terra in Para, Brazil. “I’m happy to be writing you after a nice time we had last week at the pastor’s conference with lectures on marriage and relationships. The conference was a time to invest in pastors’ lives and families. The Church of God has been in Brazil for 100 years and we’ve launched a missionary vision for our centennial celebration. We want to plant churches in all of the seven states of the Amazon area of Brazil. Currently, there are 18 churches in the state
of Para and one church in the state of Roraima. So we have five more states to reach. We are focusing our first effort on a city called Porto Nacional in the state of Tocantins. There are already four Church of God families living there and they are so excited about the plans to plant a church there. I’m preparing for a visit there on December 18 to motivate the families. I want to invite you to dream with us. We see God moving in these opportunities to plant churches in different places. Please pray for that vision. God be with you, Your Friend, Daniel.”
Students at Bible School
Greetings! From Editor: God bless you, each one. We hope and pray your holidays went well in 2016. The days come and go so quickly that, now, we find ourselves greeting you in the New Year of 2017. Have a wonderful year! It is hard to believe that the founders of Christian Triumph, Rev. L.Y. and Mrs. Janes, moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1934 and started building. The little book, The Story of a Tract, gives God the praise: God worked many miracles through the years, providing buildings and machines. Hundreds of thousands of tracts, along with other literature and Bibles, have gone forth from this location into many parts of South America as well as other countries. Evelyn Anderson, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Janes, wrote that a tract has its own story. It is passed around, read by many, then returned- worn out…but then a new one is printed and takes its place. Elena and Vitalina, even now in 2017, continue sending literature to various countries. They have previously been working in an old part of the Christian Triumph building, but we thank our Good Lord that they now have a better and safer room to fold tracts, store them, and also do their other work such as keeping files on the Bible Correspondent students, sending new lessons, and receiving the paperwork in return.
The local outreach to neighbors continues as well. As is in many areas and churches, problems come and go, but God is still on the Throne, and prayer is being answered in His time and in His way. We can never express enough appreciation for all those who have stood strong and faithful through the years of sowing the seeds of God’s love and care. If any of our new readers or interested persons would like to know more about Christian Triumph, please let us send literature or contact you in some other way. We also have speakers available to attend your missions conference or mission Sunday service. May the Lord lead us all in 2017 as we continue to proclaim His everlasting Word! God’s will is for each of us to know Him, open our hearts to His great love, and walk the valleys and mountains with Him by our side. Nothing changes that! God is for us! Faith Messenger Permit #695 Published quarterly POSTMASTER SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO: Christian Triumph Company P.O. Box 5187 Corpus Christi, Texas 78405 L.Y. Janes, Founder (deceased); Israel Hernandez, President; William Anderson, Vice-President; Fred Pena, 2nd Vice-President; Diana Beletic, Secretary/Treasurer; Una Collins, Asst. Sec./Treas. This periodical is issued without charge in the name of the Lord Jesus to help inspire child-like faith and maintain Christ-like simplicity among the people of God. To send donations or for your FREE SUBSCRIPTION, write to the address above or contact Christian Triumph Co. at christiantriumph@yahoo.com. Or see us on the web at ChristianTriumph.org 2
In Judges, there is story after story of "contemporary disaster" for the Israelites, They turn their backs on God and worship things not of God and "did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side" (Judges 8:34 is one verse of many where the Israelites leave God's side). Consequently, the punishment for leaving God is that they lose God's protection from their enemies. After suffering for 40 or so years (and this time period is mentioned more than once), they cry out to God "and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer" (Judges 10:15-16, one of the many times that God heard the cries of his people and acted in loving-kindness). These stories in Judges are similar to the "apocalyptic" lesson that Joel writes about: how to return to God. One of the most precious lessons we can learn from the Old Testament, as Christians, is that lesson stated above in Joel 2:13-14. How do we return to God, those of us who have erred, who have sinned, who have walked away, who have turned our backs? In the Old Testament, to express deep grief, people would tear their clothes and throw ashes on themselves, but even then, God was telling us it wasn't about the outer act of sorrow, it was about the inner act of rending the heart. From Old Testament to New Testament, where God sent His one and only Son "that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16), God's message has been clear: "The Lord is not slow about His promise...but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9, written from the man who knew Jesus as teacher and friend).
JOEL By Juli
Read Joel 2 Joel 2:13-14a “...And rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving-kindness and relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him...� The book of Joel is considered to be a prophetic book. In Peake's Commentary on the Bible, however, L. H. Brockington writes that some scholars also consider (for various reasons explained in the writing) that Joel is not merely a prophetic book, but also apocalyptic. Brockington writes that the book of Joel "is to be regarded as a product of the transition period between prophecy and apocalyptic...It is probably best however to regard the book as the work of one author a man called to prophetic activity by a contemporary disaster who responded to the urgency of the situation" (Peake's 614-615). I am writing this article for the FM in November, but you will read it in January (God willing). As always, a new year brings new hopes and fears, new goals and censors. This New Year will bring a new president who many think will be America's doom or savior. Oftentimes, we Americans think we are the center of the universe; however, we are not. The Old Testament was clearly not written by us or about us, historically speaking, but we can glean from the Bible the lessons God tried to get the Israelites to learn. If you are an old Christian, you are familiar with this concept of learning from others' mistakes through the Bible. If you are a new Christian, you can begin reading the Old Testament with "learning from others' mistakes" as a goal. 3
(JOEL continued from page 3)
2017
This is the point: God loves you. He wants you. Repent and be saved. Repent and come back. There will always be "contemporary disasters" in this world. It is the nature of evil. But there is One who can provide safety, security, and eternal rest: the God of the Israelites, who opened His love to all of the world through Jesus Christ. And if you feel such guilt that you think you cannot and should not be forgiven, "Ask and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8, from Jesus' own words).
A NEW YEAR by Pastor Ron 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. A New Year—how fast they come! How it is that something that has been happening for thousands of years is still new? In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he writes of being a “new creature.” How can this be also: a new life, a new beginning, new hope, sin forgiven? A new year to start over, a clean slate to begin each day anew. This is God’s promise for those who believe, for those who end and start each day bowed before a great and mighty king. I love the New Year! For the last several years my wife and I spent New Year’s Eve just like any other night; we went to bed and went to sleep for I have learned over the years that God’s blessing is every day. Life can be very hard, and this year has been no exception, yet God is still faithful. I am excited about 2017; the possibilities are endless. What is God going to do this year? Is this the year that He returns? Is this the year that God calls me home or blesses me with a new grandbaby? Is this the year that God finely touches me to the point that I can fully trust and worship Him the way I should? I pray that this year is a year that He does not have to forgive so many sins in my life. As a minister, I should be more perfect and have all of life’s issues solved, but I find as I grow older the problems change and each and every day I need God’s forgiveness. I cannot wait for a new year to start over and, most often, not even till the end of the day. I need forgiveness now and continually.
Remember, repentance starts in the heart and nothing can take away God's love (Romans 8:31-38). J ___________________________________
“Forgive me, Lord. It’s so easy to choose the wrong road. I guess I blew it this time! But your Word says you will never give up on me. Help me, I pray. . . and thank you!” 4
(2017 continued from page 4) Of each new day, I love the sunrise the most. (I just wish that it came later in the day.) I live in a small valley and do not get to see the sunrise or the sunset unless I move out of the valley even for just a few moments. The same way in life—I love to worship my Lord, but it is also hard when I dwell in my despair too much of the time. When I choose to get up and get out of my comfort zone (even though it is not that pleasing), I can climb to the top of the mountain and see into the throne of God or I can go even further into the valley and see the Lily of the valley. It is when I do nothing, that what I get is nothing! Welcome this New Year with praise regardless of the situation. We may be sitting in a pigpen with mud all over us, but God is still there. We may be in the hospital, but God is still there. No matter where this New Year finds us, at the top or at the bottom of life, God is always with us. God Bless you one and all. Have a great 2017! ___________________________________
was much bigger, and as they grew, the little ones fell out of the nest onto the floor of the garage. I sadly buried one and then placed the remaining three in a medium size basket, hanging it from a rafter which could receive more of the cool breezes during the hot summer. From a window in the kitchen, I would watch the parent birds feeding the babies and even hopping down into the basket with them at times. How precious it was to observe their constant careful attention, and the Promise of our Creator (to each of us) rang in my memory: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you…abandon you, give up on you or leave you behind… Hebrews 13:5 As the birds grew, I climbed a ladder, more than once, and peeked at them. They looked back at me with their big eyes, and, quickly, I would climb down so as not to scare them. Then… the day came that I gazed a moment too long, and one flapped his little wings and flew right out of that basket, over my head. He skimmed the ground but gradually flew higher, reaching some bushes before I could even make sure he was all right. Suddenly, out of nowhere, his parent bird flew right behind him, following, watching carefully and off they went. Jesus’ words spoke clearly and powerfully to my anxious heart, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.” God’s care is immeasurable and nothing can separate us from His mercy. If, perhaps, we feel alone, could we, somehow, have distanced ourselves, instead, from God? 2017 might be a good year for a reunion prepared by the love of God!
Celebrate Nature with the New Year! Editor: Recently a Barn Swallow educated me with an advanced lesson in the LOVE OF GOD. Several years ago, the Barn Swallows built a mud house on a rafter in my open garage. Every year, they continue to use it; however, this year, their family 5
BYRUM C. LEE (1919-2016) Byrum Cecil Lee, the second of five children of Ernest C. and Eula Lee, was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on February 19, 1919. He passed away May 3, 2016 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma at the age of 97. Following graduation from Central High School in Tulsa, in 1936, Byrum learned the carpentry trade. Those skills proved to be valuable in his later pastoral ministry for designing and building churches and residences in various locations. His preparation for pastoral ministry was at Anderson College, Anderson, Indiana and Pacific Bible College, Portland, Oregon. His first pastoral ministry was as an assistant to his father, E. C. Lee, in Tulsa. For fortynine years he pastored Church of God congregations in Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, Idaho, Kansas, Virginia, and California. His last full-time employment before retiring in 1990 was as Virginia State Coordinator of the Churches of God. Upon retirement at age 71, he returned to his native, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Gen and Byrum-1942 Byrum, Barbara, Virginia The Lee Family-1949 Odessa, Texas 1945 Oregon City, Oregon
The Lee Family in McAllen, Texas, 1954
Byrum was married on August 15, 1941 to Genevieve England, in Tulsa, after which they moved to Claremore, Oklahoma where Byrum had just begun his first pastorate. Their first child, Virginia, was born in Tulsa in 1942. Barbara was born in Odessa, Texas in 1944, as was Byrum, Jr., in 1946. Patricia was born in Oregon City, Oregon in 1950. Genevieve was an important part of their pastoral ministry until her death, June 24, 1977. Byrum married Wylodean Kimsey in 1985, after which she joined him in Virginia. Byrum retired in 1990 but he continued his ministry by writing poems, songs, and Christian articles for the rest of his life. He published three books of poetry and left enough poems for a fourth book. He also wrote over 200 songs, many of them from his poems.
Gen and Byrum-1961
Wylodean, Byrum-1990
Byrum honored for 71 years of ministry-age 94
Byrum, age 96, writing poems
CELEBRATING THE YEARS PAST AND THE YEARS TO COME
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The founders of Christian Triumph (who are 1 step ahead of us)
L. to R. Pastor Israel, Evelyn Anderson (residence in Heaven), and Vitalina (Pastor’s wife and dedicated mission worker) Rev. and Mrs. L. Y. Janes
Left to right: A loyal friend and worker – Brother Coleman Middle: Editor of the Faith Messenger now & several years ago Right: Rev. L. Y. Janes (All three had birthdays in February) Two now celebrate in Heaven.
L. to R. Vitalina, Pastor Israel, Elena, and Diana (All very loyal and dedicated workers for God) 2017
Pastor Israel & William Anderson, V. Pres.
L. to R. Gwen (daughter of Donna) Donna (Mission Outreach – Evelyn Anderson’s granddaughter) along with missionaries from India. (More later on Faith Messenger writers)
2017 7
Faith Messenger A publication of Christian Triumph Company PO BOX 5187 Corpus Christi, TX 78465
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Corpus Christi, Texas Permit # 695
Address Service Requested
2017
“NEVER will I leave you; never will I forsake you!”
Celebrate JESUS!
Heb. 13:5
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